The house is historic, some say haunted. It is also slated to be razed and replaced by condos, unless Hannah Smith can do something about it. She's been hired by a wealthy Palm Beach widow to prove that the house's seller didn't disclose everything he knew about the place when he unloaded it, including its role in a bloody Civil War skirmish (in which two of Hannah's own distant relations had had a part), and the suicides--or where they murders?--of two previous owners.

Summary

Hannah Smith returns in the stunning new adventure in the New York Times --bestselling series from the author of the Doc Ford novels.

The house is historic, some say haunted. It is also slated to be razed and replaced by condos, unless Hannah Smith can do something about it. She's been hired by a wealthy Palm Beach widow to prove that the house's seller didn't disclose everything he knew about the place when he unloaded it, including its role in a bloody Civil War skirmish (in which two of Hannah's own distant relations had had a part), and the suicides--or were they murders?--of two previous owners.

Hannah sees it as a win-win opportunity: She can stop the condo project while tracking her family history. She doesn't believe in ghosts, anyway. But some things are more dangerous than ghosts. Among them, as she will learn, perhaps fatally, is human obsession.

Author Notes

Randy Wayne White was born in Ashland, Ohio in 1950. He is an outdoorsman, journalist, and novelist. He worked for the Fort Myers News-Press for four years before becoming a light-tackle fishing guide at Tarpon Bay Marina in Sanibel Island, Florida for thirteen years. His first articles on travel, natural history, archaeology, anthropology, and politics were published in Outside Magazine. He also writes a bimonthly column for Men's Health magazine.

His first novel, Sanibel Flats, was published in 1991. He writes the Doc Ford series as well as non-fiction books including Batfishing in the Rainforest: Strange Tales of Travel and Fishing, An American Traveler: True Tales of Adventure, Travel, and Sport, and Last Flight Out: True Tales of Adventure, Travel, and Fishing. He also writes under the names of Randy Striker and Carl Ramm. In 2015 his title Cuba Straits made The New York Times Best Seller List.

Booklist Review

Things are a bit slow in the fishing-guide business, so Hannah Smith dons her PI hat and is hired by a wealthy Palm Beach widow to prove there were salient facts undisclosed when she bought a piece of property years earlier. The land includes a house that may have been the sight of two murders, and the surrounding land may hide a heretofore undiscovered Civil War battleground. As it happens, Hannah is in possession of a Civil War ancestor's journal that may have insights into the battlefield history of the area. The third entry in the Hannah Smith series, by the author of the wildly popular Doc Ford novels, is very slow to unfold as Hannah sets the stage with a quirky array of characters, including a community of circus performers that winters in a nearby trailer park. Still, when things get rolling and when White sets his hook into the story of Hannah's great-great uncle and its connection to the present, the novel takes off nicely. Fans of the Doc Ford series will be pleased.--Lukowsky, Wes Copyright 2014 Booklist